Bengals end free agency drought by signing Travelle Wharton

Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Cincinnati Bengals have signed guard Travelle Wharton, formerly of the Carolina Panthers.

As we noted last night, the Bengals have been flush with salary cap space but to this point had refused to spend it. Wharton is the team’s first addition of the 2012 free agency period.

The Panthers’ starting left guard for the past four seasons, Wharton figures to play the same position in Cincinnati. Former Bengals starting left guard Nate Livings signed a five-year, $19 million deal with the Cowboys on Friday.

when i see stories like this it makes me realize how lucky i am as a giants fan…i get to root for a team that basically has to struggle every year to get under the cap.

cincy fans wont have to deal with garbage like this much longer…pretty soon the cheapskate owners will be forced to spend.

steelernationsparksjealousy says:Mar 17, 2012 1:13 PM

They’re content with coming in third

khuxford says:Mar 17, 2012 1:15 PM

I feel terrible for all the Bengals fans that have seen their owner regress HARD to his non-spending ways. The draft picks are good, but there had to be someone worth keeping or signing in the first week of FA.

good pickup for the bengals….Travelle was a class act over the years here in Carolina. Hated to see him go.

oruacat2 says:Mar 17, 2012 1:26 PM

Bengals fan here, and I’m not that worried. Other than Mario Williams, there’s not any FAs out there in positions we need that excite me very much. A veteran CB like Ross from the NYGs, maybe, but not much else. Getting rid of Nate Livings was addition-by-subtraction IMO.
I do hope that we resign S Reggie Nelson.

Other than that, I say bring on the draft, baby!

whodeytn says:Mar 17, 2012 1:32 PM

steelernationsparksjealousy says: Mar 17, 2012 1:13 PM

They’re content with coming in third

======

And you’re content with coming in second.

flavordave says:Mar 17, 2012 1:35 PM

this is why last year when the bengals were on a winning streak there were threats of blackouts. people were getting on the bengal fans for not showing up but I can understand why. why should they pay money to a team that just keeps it?

duanethomas says:Mar 17, 2012 1:37 PM

Mike Brown should be the pro-owner shills that were on here doing the lockout Hero. Why do players matter remember, its the owners who make the game. Bengal fans, go to the stadium and cheer Mike Brown in his luxury box next year.

pooflingingmonkey says:Mar 17, 2012 1:44 PM

Upon signing, and per Brown family tradition, as part of his signing bonus Wharton was also given a small cloth bag containing an assortment of buttons, spools and wooden nickels.

I love my Giants but after attending college at UC I have a soft spot for the Bengals and follow them to some extent. With that said, this guy will certainly be an upgrade over Nate Livings (let’s face it he can’t possibly be any worse). I am ECSTATIC the Cowgirls tremendously overpaid for Nate “Revolving Door” Livings!

At least you added by subtracting Bengal fans!

rgwhodey says:Mar 17, 2012 2:25 PM

Just because the Bengals have a ton of room, doesn’t mean they have to go out and throw a ton of money at people… If they won’t fit in the system they are building why sign them. This is clearly an upgrade at a position that has needed an upgrade since Steinbach left. Keep hating..

starfan79 says:Mar 17, 2012 2:58 PM

i live by TCU and feel sorry for Andy Dalton, I still think the colts should have taken him last year so hopefully Cincy doesn’t kill him.

Mike brown will always be known as a cheap skate but the truth is for awhile they were stuck with bad contracts like chad Johnson bc they were too close to the cap to just cut him and replace him. There was a time when mike spent money to build the team.

I think last year his low salary team played so well that mike decided a cheap approach would work if they focused on the draft. The problem I have is that they were lucky last year, and nothing has happened to make me think that mike will repeat his once every 10 years good draft luck.

All of this said id rather them sit still and not waste money on guys that aren’t stars. Next year they will have no choice, but at least this year they aren’t throwing millions at Antonio Bryant type guys

Mike is being smart watching his dollars. They need a lot of money to keep a young core of Atkins, Dunlap, Green, Gresham, and Dalton in the near future. Green could command more than Calvin Johnson’s deal if he continues to get better.

i live by TCU and feel sorry for Andy Dalton, I still think the colts should have taken him last year so hopefully Cincy doesn’t kill him.

Smarten up. Andy Dalton had a stellar rookie season, stayed clean (despite Nate Livings) and got to go to the pro bowl after a couple of defections. I wish somebody was feeling sorry for me for the same reasons…

They had a decent team last year,did they go to playoffs ? you guys are forgetting that !dalton may blow up next year and make them even better so I wouldn’t be making fun of bengals for not spending big yet .

southcakpanther says:Mar 17, 2012 4:19 PM

Not gonna be an all-pro but he is a pretty good guard. He was dependable and can kick out to tackle in a pinch. Would have likes him to stay in Carolina but he wasn’t worth the 8 mil he was scheduled to make.